


Nightfall

by tokii



Series: 壊れた方 [19]
Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-15
Updated: 2019-11-15
Packaged: 2021-01-31 01:02:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21437617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tokii/pseuds/tokii
Summary: Jason lives happily with Kira and their twin children, but his past often fights its way into his dreams.Tag: Pink (Extreme Caution)
Series: 壊れた方 [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1542805





	Nightfall

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sophisthoe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sophisthoe/gifts).

Nightfall

Anguished screams rattle throughout the moonlit bedroom. Jason lay writhing in agony, clutching at the ruined sheets, his breathing haggard. “NO, nuhh,” he grates, burying his cheek into the moistened pillow. He wails and abruptly thrashes awake, left gasping over his knees, wet lashes fluttering. His heart thuds rapidly against his ribcage, blood pulsating in his ears. Jason tenses his back and his shoulders knot, his veins distended. And he sits there, rigid, motionless, in bewildered silence. He twists his head, the sheen of sweat masking his pallor, and finds his wife, Kira, gawking at him, eyes glistening. He clambers over the barrier of wet pillows, panting, at a loss for words. He takes her face in his hands, his eyes flitting over her fine features.

“Jason,” she murmurs, as he fumbles with her tank top, searching for the birthmark on her shoulder.

He pauses... and strokes the dime-sized freckle with his thumb, a shaky breath catching in his throat.

Kira’s hushed tone quivers, “Jason…”

He looks into her dark, widened eyes, and takes notice of the endearing freckle resting just beneath her brow. He caresses her cheek with a sweaty palm, and breathes, “I thought I’d lost you.” His thumb taps her bottom lip, reassuringly, and he nods his head. “I thought I’d lost you…” he whispers again, before turning and sliding to the floor, soaked sheets still tangled around his torso. He squeezes his burning eyes shut, and rests his head against the cool, metal bed frame. His wife sniffles her nose and the bed squeaks as she climbs down to join him on the carpet. Kira sits in front of him and wraps her legs around his waist. She tucks her hand around his neck and strokes his damp hair. Jason reaches up and grips her forearm, his elbow tapping against his heaving breastbone. With a troubled breath, he moans, “It was you, this time…” And he peers down his nose at her, a single tear running along his cheekbone.

“Baby,” she whispers, wiping the drip from his jaw.

“It was you. Instead of hh-...” He falters, rasped voice lowering to a breathless whisper, “Instead of her…” He leans forward, his brows furrowed, pain filling his young eyes.

Kira drops her hand until it rests on his burning chest. Her gaze is steady, pupils constricting even under the pale moonlight.

“I got word of where you were. And Bruce had warned me to wait on more intel, but I, I just couldn’t…” Jason cups her dainty face in his coarse hand. “I couldn’t leave you… with,” he groans, biting his lip as another tear falls. “With that monster… I could never…” and Jason gives a trembling sigh, his hand falling to her neck. Her pulse beats rhythmically beneath his thumb. “I flew to Qurac alone, to rescue you.”

Kira sniffles, a soft whimper escaping her parted lips. She strokes his tight chest with her fingers, her palm carefully laid over his heart.

“I found the warehouse where you were being held, and you ran to me, collapsing into my arms. You grabbed at my clothes, weeping, muttering something between panicked breaths. But, I, I couldn’t make out what you were saying. And then I heard the familiar crack… the crack of metal against my skull. You screamed, and I slumped to the stone floor – my hair wet and vision swirling. The pungent scent of putrid, rotting flesh clogged my nostrils. And his sick, demented voice rang in my ears.” Jason’s body tremors, and he slams his fist against the dresser to steady himself. “I still hear it,” Jason pants, his strong frame shivering, face blanched. “He’s still laughing,” his husky voice cracks, pupils dilating.

Kira clutches her husband’s twitching chest, and holds him firmly against the bed frame, “Jason, baby, breathe. Even though you hear him, you’re safe. You’re here with –.”

“He called me his little bird,” Jason spits vehemently, “said he missed me.” His breath quickens, and the words pour out in a fervent stream, “And then, the crowbar smashed into my face, again, and again... and his sickening, screeching laughter drowned out your horrified shrieking…” Jason gasps sharply and runs a shaking hand through his strip of bleached hair. He strains for a fitful breath and draws his aching eyes together beneath clammy fingers.

Kira slides her hand down his heaving chest and holds his knees, “Just breathe, Jason,” Her glistening eyes narrow as she steadies her quivering voice, “You’re here with me, baby. It’s just a memory… you survived it.”

Jason groans, and sags against the bed frame in exhaustion, dropping his hand to squeeze her thigh, an anchor amidst the turmoil in his mind. He trembles beneath the weight of her hands. And they sit in silence for a while, save his occasional haggard breaths.

“I relived it… all of it. My bones shattering, my lungs burning, my ears deafened by the smacking of metal on meat,” Jason winces and the sinews on his neck stand out. “Gugh, with each crack, your screams grew more hysterical. It wasn’t long before the crowbar churned my insides to mush.” Jason clenches his jaw and pants through gritted teeth. “And then the sickening laughter floated away, as suddenly as it had appeared. And you rushed to my side and cradled me, frantically running your hands along my crushed chest, covering yourself in my blood, your hair matted to your salty cheeks.”

Kira presses her lips to the back of her hand, mouth gaping. She sways forward and squeezes the back of his neck, and he clasps his hand over hers, their fingers tightly intertwined. Jason wipes the grief from her flushed, pointed cheek, and tucks her dark wisps behind her ears. Kira catches a shuddering breath and squeezes his hand. She sets her red-rimmed eyes on his and twitches her dripping nose. She nods at him slightly, knowingly. He purses his lips, but her eyes stay fixed on his. They’ve done this before.

Jason sighs, and squeezes his eyes shut. His voice lowers, and his lips twist at a twinge of remembrance, “You whispered to me that it was going to be ok, that everything was going to be just fine, even as you clamped your hands around my skull to try and stop the bleeding. You begged me to stay awake, and you reminded me that the twins were waiting for us. I had left Harper and Catherine with your sister, but I didn’t have the strength to respond. I heard you say something about dragging me to the door and then, excruciating pain just flooded every inch of me. The blood made your hands slick, so it took a while for you to drag me. I’d call out, accompanying the scraping of bone across the pitted floor, and you’d sob that we were almost there. And while you drug my broken body, I thought of my mother… and the parallels became just unbearable.”

Jason pauses, anguish cracking his voice. “Now… now, I’m a man with years of training and experience and I, I couldn’t save you.” He turns face away from hers, neck tensing, “I had condemned you to die, and sentenced our children to grow up in a stranger’s home, orphaned, just like their father.” Rivulets run down his cheeks, and they sit in silence for a moment, his face in her hand, her tears dripping to the carpet. “We finally reached the door,” he chokes, “and, God, you were exhausted. I was so proud of you. I was so thankful to have started a life with you.” He strokes Kira’s dainty fingers lining his jaw. “You had saved me all those years ago, when we first met, and you’d continued to save me... You screamed for help, wrenching the handle of the locked door towards you. But it wouldn’t budge, just as before. And you slid to the ground and wrapped your arms around me, holding my open head in your lap. You took my bloodied hand in your own, clutched it to your chest, and kissed my tangled hair. You whispered into my ear that you loved me.” Jason pauses again, breath shaking. His eyes flutter closed, and salt catches on his pursed lips. “An explosion ripped through the building and you were gone. I lost you in an instant. I felt my limbs pulling apart, my skin growing hot… and then just darkness, and silence.”

Jason opens his eyes and reaches for Kira’s neckline, to reassure himself. He makes out the blurred outline of her birthmark, resting in its place on her shoulder. And they sit quietly, warm skin touching, moonlight leaking onto the carpet. He watches the mark to be sure that it doesn’t disappear. It seems to move beneath the shadows descending to the floor. Kira lifts his chin so he’s looking into her reddened eyes, and Jason notices the unmistakable freckle that rests beneath her brow. Her nose twitches as fluid trickles from her nostril. She leans close and whispers, “You haven’t lost me, Jason Todd.” Her breath tickles his skin, and he buries his forehead into her chest. She strokes his damp hair, and the drips splash rhythmically onto his burning neck. “You have all of me, in life and in death.” And the cries of their newborn children echo down the hallway through the darkness.


End file.
